There is no life insurance tax relief on the premiums of a personal policy in the UK today. HMRC's manual says the old relief ran only until 5 April 2015, and only for policies taken out on or before 13 March 1984. Cover paid for by a company is treated under different rules, set out below.

Should you want the cover itself looked at, the quote form here hands your details to an FCA-authorised broker, who will phone you to go through the types of policy. It is free. Tax questions about your own position are for HMRC or an accountant.

This page describes what HMRC and insurers publish, as read in October 2026. It is the general position rather than tax advice, and tax rules can change.

Can you get tax relief on the premiums for a personal life insurance policy?

No, apart from two narrow cases. HMRC's Insurance Policyholder Taxation Manual (page updated February 2022) says "Life assurance premium relief was available until 5 April 2015 on life insurance policies taken out on or before 13 March 1984." It goes on: "From 6 April 2015 tax relief for payments for life insurance is limited to:" two cases, an individual's payment to a trade union and an individual's payment to a police organisation, where part of the payment is attributable to superannuation, life insurance or pension benefits.

So whether the search is for a tax deduction, a tax credit or something to claim on Self Assessment, premiums on a term, whole of life or other personal policy are not on that list, and there is no relief for a calculator to work out.

Tax on the money a policy pays, and whether it counts towards the estate, are covered in is a life insurance payout taxable? and, for the trust route, what a life insurance trust is.

Is a whole of life policy a qualifying policy, and does that bring relief?

Being a qualifying policy still has a tax meaning, but not one that brings relief. The same HMRC manual (introduction page updated August 2023) gives two reasons the status matters. One is premium relief on older policies still running, which it calls "of less importance with the abolition of LAPR with effect from 6 April 2015" (LAPR is life assurance premium relief). The other is working out which events give rise to a taxable gain, since "Both qualifying and non-qualifying policies can give rise to chargeable event gains".

Its outline of the qualifying rules (updated August 2022) describes the main conditions only broadly. They include that "the policy term must be ten years or more" and, for policies issued or varied from 21 March 2012, that "annual premiums payable under all such policies must not exceed £3,600". That figure is a ceiling on premiums for a policy to count as qualifying, not an amount of relief and not a price. Insurers work out whether the policies they write are qualifying and tell their customers, so the status of a particular whole of life policy is a question for its insurer. Either way, qualifying status does not bring back any relief on what you pay. For how whole of life premiums can stop after a set number of years, see whole of life with limited payments.

Can premiums on a parent's policy or a loan protection policy be claimed?

The general rule above does not change with who is insured. A policy on a parent is a personal policy, so no relief is given under the manual's list. What does change is who can take it out. Legal & General's guide for people considering this says you can insure a parent only if you have an "insurable interest" in them, and that the parent must consent before cover is taken out on their behalf. The interest rule comes from the Life Assurance Act 1774, which says no insurance may be made on a life where the person it is made for "shall have no interest". How that works is in life insurance for parents.

Loan protection is not among the payments on HMRC's list of relief that remains, which covers only the trade union and police organisation cases above. If your loan protection policy also pays out for illness or unemployment and you want to know how that part is treated in your own situation, HMRC or an accountant can tell you. The product itself is explained in what loan protection insurance is.

If you are weighing what cover might sit behind a mortgage or loan, a broker authorised by the FCA can go over the choices by phone once you send the quote form; nothing is charged for the call-back.

What happened to tax relief on pension term assurance?

Some older readers remember paying for life cover out of pension contributions and getting tax relief on it. HMRC's Pensions Tax Manual (page updated August 2025) says that life assurance premium contributions paid to a registered pension scheme after 5 April 2007 (after 31 July 2007 for occupational schemes) "are not relievable pension contributions and cannot qualify for tax relief". Contributions paid before 1 August 2007 to an occupational scheme, or before 6 April 2007 to another kind of registered scheme, "cannot be life assurance premium contributions and so can be relievable pension contributions eligible for tax relief."

The manual keeps a carve-out for what it calls protected policies, older personal term assurance held for a registered pension scheme. A protected policy loses that status if a variation "increases the benefits payable under the policy, or extends the period over which benefits are payable." Employers are dealt with separately: "relief for contributions paid by an employer in respect of a non-group life policy is not affected by these restrictions." If you have an old policy of this kind, its insurer or the pension provider is the one to say whether it is still protected.

Does it change if a company pays the premiums?

Yes, because the question then becomes whether the cost is a business expense, which is a separate set of rules from personal relief. Two such arrangements have their own pages: relevant life insurance, which a company takes out on an employee's life for the employee's family, and key person insurance, which pays the business itself.

For relevant life, HMRC's Employment Income Manual (July 2020) covers the employee's side: the premiums escape the charge on employer-financed retirement benefits, though other rules can still tax them, as the relevant life page explains. For the company's side, Legal & General's technical guide for advisers (W13965, June 2026) gives its own reading. It expects the premiums to be allowable for the employer, but says that for a premium to count as a deductible business expense "the ‘wholly and exclusively’ principles usually apply", and it offers a template letter "for employers (or their accountants) to gain a view of the tax position of premiums with their local inspector of taxes". That is an insurer's view, not an HMRC ruling.

For key person cover, HMRC's Business Income Manual (page dated April 2016) says the premiums "will be allowable if all the following conditions are met": in short, that the sole purpose is meeting a loss of trading income from losing that person's services, not a capital loss, and that a life policy is term insurance with no other benefits, for a term no longer than the person's usefulness to the company. Premiums on whole life or endowment policies used this way "are capital expenditure and will not be deductible". Whether a particular company meets any of these tests is a question for its accountant.

Can a sole trader or partner set premiums against trading profits?

HMRC's Business Income Manual (April 2016) says not: "Premiums paid by a sole trader or partner to provide life, accident or sickness insurance cover for him/herself or a partner are not allowable deductions in computing trading profits." The same page adds that the benefits from such policies are not trading income either. So life cover a self-employed person buys on their own life does not go through the business as an expense.

The rule also reaches sickness cover, which the manual says is "often known as permanent health insurance". Whether income protection premiums are deductible for individuals, sole traders and partners is the subject of are income protection premiums tax deductible? and is executive income protection tax deductible?, and tax on the benefits is in are income protection benefits taxable?. The wider set of guides on trusts and tax is gathered in trusts and tax.

Frequently asked questions

Are life insurance premiums tax deductible in the UK?

Not for a personal policy. HMRC's manual says tax relief for payments for life insurance has been limited since 6 April 2015 to an individual's payments to a trade union or police organisation where part of the payment is attributable to superannuation, life insurance or pension benefits. Company-paid cover follows the separate rules above.

Can I claim life insurance on Self Assessment?

Only in those narrow trade union and police organisation cases, where HMRC's manual says the relief is "given in coding, through self-assessment or by repayment". Premiums on your own personal policy are not claimable there, and a sole trader cannot deduct them from trading profits either, as set out above.

Is there a tax relief life cover plan?

Not for a new personal policy. Relief on personal premiums applied only to policies taken out on or before 13 March 1984, and it ended on 5 April 2015. If a plan is described as tax-efficient, ask the insurer which HMRC rules it relies on and what happens if your circumstances change.

Do I pay tax on the payout instead?

That is a separate question, set out in is a life insurance payout taxable?.

To find out what cover is open to you, send the quote form; an FCA-authorised broker will phone you back, and there is no charge.

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